This is a short story, in the science fiction/horror genre. It is told in the first person. The narrator is in a kind of prison for the criminally insane. He is highly intelligent, but an extreme sociopath.

Like his hometown, Malcolm is dying. Cancer. His death will be slow and painful - but everyone else in town is going to die with a smile. From deep within the woods come the spores of an infectious mold. When breathed in, the infected become euphoric, while their bodies liquefy internally. Now Malcolm must struggle to survive just one more day, while his hometown goes mad all around him.